Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening By Robert Frost · PDF file1. Assonance Assonance is...
Transcript of Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening By Robert Frost · PDF file1. Assonance Assonance is...
1. Assonance
Assonance is the close repetition of vowel sounds in a line of poetry.
For example, “same day” repeats the “ā” sound and is considered assonance.
Copy the example of assonance from line 3 of the poem. Label it assonanceand write a definition of the term.
2. Alliteration
Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in a line of poetry.
“A big black bug bit Betty,” is an example.
Copy the definition of alliteration on your paper. Then find an example of alliteration in one line, and write those alliterated words on your paper.
3. Stanza
A stanza is a division of a poem arranged into groups of lines.
They are similar to paragraphs.
Each stanza is separated from the others by a skipping a line.
How many stanzas are in this poem?
4. Types of Stanzas
Stanzas can be composed of different numbers of lines.
A couplet is a two line stanza.
A tercet is a three line stanza.
A quatrain is a four line stanza.
A quintet is a five line stanza.
A sestet is a six line stanza.
Which kind of stanzas does the poet use in this poem?
5. Rhyme
Rhyme is defined as the repetition of the accented vowel sound and all succeeding sounds.
Examples are:
old/cold
make/wake
feign/rain
List all rhyming words used by the poet at the end of each line.
6. Rhyme SchemeRhyme scheme refers to the pattern of rhyme.
The last word in the first line is assigned letter “a.”
Any end word in the same stanza which rhymes with it will also be assigned the letter “a.”
If the last word does not rhyme with that first word, it is assigned letter “b.” All words in the same stanza that rhyme with word “b” will also be labeled “b.”
Write the rhyme scheme used by the poet for all lines in all stanzas.
7. Imagery
Imagery is defined as a representation or picture drawn by the author’s words.
In the first stanza, what picture does the poet paint with his words?
What does the reader see in the second stanza?
8. Imagery
Imagery may also
be a representation
of a sound. What
sounds does the
reader “hear” in
stanza # 3?
9. Symbols
Do you think the
symbols in line 13
are positive or
negative?
Why?
How do they make
you feel?
10. Hyperbole
A hyperbole is an overstatement which should not be taken literally.
For example: “You’ve grown a foot!” simply means you’ve gotten a great deal taller, not that you have literally grown 12 inches.
Copy the definition of hyperbole and write the line in which you find an example of that technique in the first stanza.
11. Symbolism
Symbolism occurs when an author uses one thing to represent another thing.
For example, the seasons are sometimes used to represent the periods in a person’s life.
If spring is symbolic of birth and new life, what would be symbolized by the seasonal setting of this poem?
Why is this season a good parallel with that portion of a person’s life?
12. Setting
The setting refers to
where and when a
story, a poem, or a
play takes place.
What is the setting
for this poem?
14. Lonely places
Robert Frost often
wrote poetry about a
lonely place.
Does that habit fit
this poem?
Give specific
evidence.
15. Record several facts about the poet,
Robert Frost
Robert Frost was born in San Francisco in 1874. He moved to New England at the age of
eleven and became interested in reading and writing poetry during his high school years in
Lawrence, Massachusetts. He was enrolled at Dartmouth College in 1892, and later at
Harvard, but never earned a formal degree. Frost drifted through a string of occupations
after leaving school, working as a teacher, cobbler, and editor of the Lawrence Sentinel. His
first professional poem, "My Butterfly," was published on November 8, 1894, in the New York
newspaper The Independent.
In 1895, Frost married Elinor Miriam White, who became a major inspiration in his poetry
until her death in 1938. The couple moved to England in 1912, after their New Hampshire
farm failed. By the time Frost returned to the United States in 1915, he had published two
full-length collections, A Boy's Will and North of Boston, and his reputation was established.
By the nineteen-twenties, he was the most celebrated poet in America, and with each new
book—including New Hampshire (1923), A Further Range (1936), Steeple Bush (1947), and In
the Clearing (1962)—his fame and honors (including four Pulitzer Prizes) increased.
His work is principally associated with the life and landscape of New England. Robert Frost
lived and taught for many years in Massachusetts and Vermont, and died on January 29,
1963, in Boston.